Iowa men’s basketball team takes and makes good shots, routs SE Missouri State

IOWA CITY -- The Iowa men’s basketball team is shooting 57.9 percent from the field this season, which ranks second in the nation to Kansas State.

The 4-0 Hawkeyes improved on their season total by making 30 of 49 shots (61.2 percent) in a 99-70 rout of Southeast Missouri State Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

That’s good. Quite good. Yet, it isn’t a statistic for which Hawkeyes Coach Ben McCollum has great expectations.

“No, not really,” he said. “Just try to get free throws, layups and threes. Our teams in the past have been super-efficient, toward the top of the country in efficiency. So efficiency is a big deal to us.

“Points per possession would be more important to me than anything. Because that means the ball is going through the basket more. When the ball goes through the basket, you can set your defense more often.”

The efficiency has been there so far in four one-sided home wins. Still, if you shoot better than 60 percent you’re going to rule the world far more often than not. Iowa shot 60.9 percent in the first half, 61.5 percent in the second against the Redhawks of Cape Girardeau (1-4).

Alvaro Folgueiras left the bench to score a game-high 16 points in 25 minutes for the Hawkeyes. The junior forward had eight of his team’s 11 points in a flurry over 3:16 that bumped Iowa’s lead to its largest of the night, 72-42.

The Spaniard was the Horizon League’s Player of the Year last season at Robert Morris, but hasn’t been a starter yet at Iowa. He claims not to care.

“I just go there and play,” Folgueiras said. “It’s that easy. Coach makes me feel important and I’m trying to answer to his confidence every time. If I start the game on the bench, in my house, back in Spain or wherever, I’m OK.

“If I play zero and the team wins, I’m going to be OK, too.”

Senior guard Brendan Hausen came to Iowa with a reputation as a career 39 percent 3-point shooter, but was 2-of-8 from deep over the first three games. He shook that off and made 3 of 5 Tuesday.

“I just try to be what the team needs,” Hausen said. “We have a great core of guys. It’s been the most fun I’ve ever had, playing with these guys.”

Hausen played two years at Villanova, one at Kansas State. He averaged 10.9 points last season at K-State.

“All the places I’ve been were a really good time and I made great relationships,” he said, “but the guys welcomed me in here and the style of play, it’s just been a lot of fun.”

“I think that we recruit great kids,” McCollum said. “From an outside perspective, it's, it's exciting, you know. People can see that to a certain level, but internally, it's even better than you think. Guys enjoy seeing each other every day, guys enjoy each other's success.”

Hausen, he said, is “probably not playing as much as he did last year, and he still has that same kind of attitude, which reflects exactly the kind of kids that we have.”

If Tuesday’s game had something truly newsworthy, it was that McCollum sat senior point guard Bennett Stirtz for the final 7:20. Stirtz played 35, 40 and 40 minutes in the first three games. He scored 15 points and had a season-high 9 assists Tuesday.

Iowa gets back at it Thursday when it hosts Chicago State (0-5) at 6 p.m. The Cougars lost 66-54 at Minnesota Tuesday.

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